Helpful Hints Regarding the Licensing Process
The Colorado State Board of Dental Examiners conducts a thorough evaluation of a number of items, including basic dental/dental hygiene credentials, national, regional and/or state examination results, malpractice history, and criminal or disciplinary history. This process takes time - anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending mostly upon how quickly the applicant complies with what is requested of him/her and the nature of any problems requiring closer scrutiny. In spite of the fact that there is NO guarantee of licensure, some applicants make commitments to start work at a certain time and later find the commitment cannot be kept. Please remember that the Board will not accelerate one application at the expense of another, nor will it forego any elements of its screening process. The following suggestions are offered to help those who apply for licensure, as well as those who recruit dental service personnel, to avoid problems which can be costly:
- Give the
Board enough time to do its job. For something as important as
a dental or dental hygiene license, two months lead time is not
unreasonable.
- Don’t
make commitments on loans, practice start dates, home purchases,
etc., until a license is granted and you have it in your possession.
Not all dentists or dental hygienists who apply will receive a
license, and others will be licensed only with restrictions. Don’t
set yourself or colleagues up for disappointment or financial
setbacks based on mere speculation.
- Make sure
all application materials are sent to the Board office, in accordance
with the directions set forth in the application packet. Application
requirements are set to comply with the dental practice law of
Colorado. Do not assume that an exception will be made or that
a requirement will be waived for you.
- If there
are items on the application about which the Board desires additional
information, or if there is a malpractice history, the application
will take longer to get through the review process.
- We recommend that applicants handle their own applications without delegating this task to someone else. In our experience, delegation frequently does not work well. When things break down, it is the applicant who suffers. The process seems to work more smoothly when individual applicants personally take charge of the process.
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